Poker News Roundup: Winamax Open, Luuk Gieles, WSOP Canada

The Winamax Poker Open is back and if you happen to be in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland, make your way over to join the festivities. The full details on that event is where we’ll start our weekly recap of the poker headlines:

Winamax Poker Open To Return To Dublin On September 17

One of the most popular poker events is back. The Winamax Poker Open, a poker festival with a considerable following, is heading to Dublin next week. The event will be held at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, Ireland starting on September 17. There will be a total of 40 events on the docket involving various buy-ins ranging from 10 to 1,500 euros. That helps make this an inclusive event for both pros and amateurs. The event will last a full week through September 23.

The featured events are the 1,500 Euro High Roller and the 550 Euro Main Event. Otto Richard is the reigning champion at the event. He won 92,000 euros for his victory last year, navigating his way through a field of 1,069 entries. Last year was the fifth edition of the event. The first Winamax Poker Open was held in 2013.

Luuk Gieles Wins WSOPC Rotterdam 3,500 Euro Event

A surprising winner was crowned champ at the World Series of Poker Circuit Rotterdam 3,500 Euro event. It was so surprising that the winner himself didn’t even expect to win. Luuk Gieles won the 2018 WSOPC International Holland Casino Rotterdam 3,500 Euro High Roller tournament, collecting 53,000 euros for his effort. Afterward, he stated that he never thought he was going to win – even as he made it to the heads-up round at the end.

Gieles narrowly defeated second-place finisher Kevin Paque, who won over 35,000 euros in the tournament. Albert Hoekendijk was third and pocketed just over 17,600 euros. Raoul Refos was fourth and collected just under 11,800 euros. These were the four finishers in the money at the final table.

Gieles was one of several players who used the available option to enter the field late in the tournament. The move paid off for Gieles, who defeated a number of champion poker players.

Four other players – Haci Bayram, Ad Schaap, Firoz Mangroe and James Romero – were able to make it to the final table.

Quebec Event Breaks Entries Records, Awards Seven Rings

The WSOP International Circuit began its new 2018-19 season at the Playground Poker Club in Quebec, Canada, and the event smashed records. Running from August 23 through September 3, the event was a considerable success by industry standards.

Seven rings were awarded in an event that paid out just under $5 million, at $4,992,493. That figure exceeded the $4-million figure that was guaranteed. A total of 8,169 entries flooded the field, which was a record, along with entries for several individual events within the whole series. All seven ring events hit their guaranteed-figure money targets.

The main event was won by Danny Freitas, who collected nearly $300,000 Cdn for his victory, with Maxime Boulais getting the runner-up spot and just over $210,000. The other six ring winners in the seven-ring extravaganza: Jason Mandanici-Turcot, Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault, Robert Cheung, Dallis Kerbrat, Raymond Latinsky and Gino Roland Frenette.